Mottainai (nonfiction)

Woman mending a fishing net (Utagawa Kuniyoshi, 1798 - 1861).

Mottainai (もったいない?, mottainai) is a Japanese term conveying a sense of regret concerning waste.

Description

The expression "Mottainai!" can be uttered alone as an exclamation when something useful, such as food or time, is wasted, meaning roughly "what a waste!" or "Don't waste."

In addition to its primary sense of "wastefulness", the word is also used to mean "impious; irreverent" or "more than one deserves".

Mottainai is an old Buddhist word, which has ties "with the Shinto idea that objects have souls."

Mottainai has been referred to as a tradition, a cultural practice, and an idea which is still present in Japanese culture, which has become an international concept.

Fiction cross-reference

• Mister Apple Goes Ouch

External links

• Mottainai @ Wikipedia